Abstract
Effects of the distance between an axial cooling fan and its air-cooled target on heat transfer characteristic of cooling fan were investigated experimentally and numerically. A heated plate, simulating the surface to be cooled, is installed at the downstream of the cooling fan. Temperature on the heat transfer surface is measured using thermocouples to evaluate heat transfer effects among the different distances. Detailed flow measurement is performed using a slant hot-wire probe to clarify time-resolved flow structure as well as turbulent flow characteristics contained in the near-wall flow field. These experimental results are compared with the numerical ones, obtained by using a commercial CFD code CFX10.0 for a three-dimensioned unsteady prediction. These aero-thermal results indicate that the important role of the fan-surface distance in terms of flow rate and cooling performance.
